An incredible display of generosity from Geno

[Sluconn Husky]

Not sure how else to title this but that seems to capture it pretty well.

Hope it's okay to quote in full.

I've waited a little while to post this until I knew I could and maybe it'll go viral, who knows?
I don't know how many people knew that Thomas was working for one of Geno Auriemma's restaurants in Southington when he suffered a fatal a heart attack at the age of 45.
Geno asked the restaurant manager, Michelle Suttenberg, what we needed the most and of course, knowing our family's situation, she immediately said daycare.
Last week at the funeral, she informed me that Geno was working on something big in addition to the gofundme page that had been set up by my family.
He has offered to pay for the twins (3 yrs old in Jan) daycare for TWO years!!! I cannot tell you what it felt like to hear news like that and to know that Thomas is still making me and his boys his priority from afar.
Perhaps when you see Geno on the screen as you watch UCONN women's basketball, you will say thank you! Or perhaps a letter or email....or even visit one of his restaurants to say, wow, he's that awesome of a guy.
I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to say it myself.
And so I am happy to say that Drew and Tucker will be starting daycare in January and they will be life-long UCONN fans!

Please feel free to share

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzmlK-fVEAAIOLJ.jpg

 

[eebmg]

A wonderful gift to provide some peace in tragedy.

 

[CL82]

I was touched, but not the least bit surprised, by Geno's kindness. The man is, to use an overused but seldom as well deserved phrase, a class act. We are fortunate to have him as a coach, but equally fortunate to have the man in our community. Tonight I will include the family and Geno in my prayers.

 

[bags27]

And he wrote a lead check to the Pat Summitt Foundation to Find a Cure for Alzheimer's. Not something he talked about or hesitated for a moment in doing.

In a world where we root that a particular team does not just play well, does not just win, but utterly annihilates its opponent to demonstrate its excellence, we need to remember that the guy in charge also instinctively transmits the deepest qualities of fairness, compassion, and philanthropy (love of fellow humans). This is a very complex and challenging thing to do and to transmit to young people. But it is a very important reason why so many UConn WCBB alumnae turn out to be such awesome people.

 

[ballhawk]

I was teary eyed just reading this. Geno is a remarkable person who doesn't broadcast his compassion and generosity.

 

[HuskyNan]

I'm happy to report the GoFundMe page has reached its $10,000 goal but a young widow with two babies... If you're so inclined, you might want to throw in a few dollars.

Click here to support In Memory of Thomas Ralph Curtis by Denise Curtis Maheu

 

[Blueconn]

Yay for our Coach. He's years away from retirement and many of us miss him already.

This story got me thinking about something I read a few years back to do with Geno helping Jamelle through a family tragedy. A moment googling brought up an excerpt from his collaborative autobiography entitled Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection. The excerpt is titled "A Personal Note from the Coauthor". The writer is Jackie MacMullan and her comments expand on the decency, compassion, and generosity that are forever part of Geno's core. Class act indeed.

(Perhaps a tech-head can imbed some of the excerpt ?)

 

[EricLA]

Such a sad story. My heart goes out to the family. Just another reason why Geno is so revered by those who know him.

 

[Blueconn]

Yay for our Coach. He's years away from retirement and many of us miss him already.

This story got me thinking about something I read a few years back to do with Geno helping Jamelle through a family tragedy. A moment googling brought up an excerpt from his collaborative autobiography entitled Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection. The excerpt is titled "A Personal Note from the Coauthor". The writer is Jackie MacMullan and her comments expand on the decency, compassion, and generosity that are forever part of Geno's core. Class act indeed.

(Perhaps a tech-head can imbed some of the excerpt ?)

And a good bet is that Geno's example will encourage action on the part of those who are able to help.

 

[UcMiami]

I really like this story. Just want to quibble about the 'incredible display of generosity' in the title. For all our faults and fractures as a society, we still are at heart a generous one. Most of the acts go unreported and unacknowledged by all except those directly affected. And because of conglomerates and absentee ownership many of our work experiences get divorced from the human connection between owner and employee that was more prevalent in times past. And because we are more transient as a society and either travel to work or work from home, many of our neighborhood bonds are less strong. But there are still a lot of strong communities and strong local businesses that do keep those bonds and connections and when tragedy strikes people step up - with their time, their emotional support, their services, and when able with their money.

Great story and generosity, just maybe not 'incredible'.

 

[BobbyJ]

That is what's called class and compassion.

 

[BroadwayVa]

I really like this story. Just want to quibble about the 'incredible display of generosity' in the title. For all our faults and fractures as a society, we still are at heart a generous one. Most of the acts go unreported and unacknowledged by all except those directly affected. And because of conglomerates and absentee ownership many of our work experiences get divorced from the human connection between owner and employee that was more prevalent in times past. And because we are more transient as a society and either travel to work or work from home, many of our neighborhood bonds are less strong. But there are still a lot of strong communities and strong local businesses that do keep those bonds and connections and when tragedy strikes people step up - with their time, their emotional support, their services, and when able with their money.

Great story and generosity, just maybe not 'incredible'.

Americans are Generous and willing to help--look at the hurricanes and Floods in Ct or 911, in NY, there were so many wanting to help MOST had to be turned away!!

This in no way surprises me about Geno and or this program. If not for this Mother/Widow letting us know --it would have gone unnoticed by the masses--as have most of Geno's and this team's giving and caring --and putting themselves where their hearts and mouths are---Christine (the Heart) and Geno (the head) have made UConn Women stand for ---Standing up to be the first and foremost to help . God Bless them!!! You rarely read or hear --what you do is only the tiny tip of what they actually do..

 

[Kurebeach5]

I was teary eyed just reading this. Geno is a remarkable person who doesn't broadcast his compassion and generosity.

I too, got teared up and couldn't agree more with your sentiments !

 

[MJL243]

Yay for our Coach. He's years away from retirement and many of us miss him already.

This story got me thinking about something I read a few years back to do with Geno helping Jamelle through a family tragedy. A moment googling brought up an excerpt from his collaborative autobiography entitled Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection. The excerpt is titled "A Personal Note from the Coauthor". The writer is Jackie MacMullan and her comments expand on the decency, compassion, and generosity that are forever part of Geno's core. Class act indeed.

(Perhaps a tech-head can imbed some of the excerpt ?)

From "Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection":

He told you, that when assistant coach Jamelle Elliott's mother tragically died in a fire, he and his staff rushed back from the Final Four to be there for her. What he failed to tell you was that he paid for all the funeral arrangements; and took great pains to make sure each and every player on his team made it to Washington, D.C., so they could go together, in force, to the service.
"It wasn't the money," Elliott explained. "I knew I could pay that back. But I can never repay the support and the love he provided me and my family during the most difficult time of our lives."
Some of Geno's most considerate gestures have been subtle. When Sue Bird returned to her native New York for the first time in a UConn uniform to play St. John's, she was hopeful her mother could host a dinner for the team. But when she got hold of the team's itinerary, it became apparent it would be impossible because they were scheduled to bus to New York the day of the game.
"I was a little disappointed," she said, "but then I put it out of my mind. The next day, I find out Coach had totally rearranged our schedule so we could go to my mom's house and have our pregame meal there. It may sound like a little thing, but it meant a great deal to me."
Meghan Pattyson, the player in the book whom Geno lambasted after a poor first semester academically, went on to graduate with honors and accept a job broadcasting women's basketball. The pay was minimal, so she ate dinner nearly every night at the Auriemma house "If I didn't," Pattyson said, "I wouldn't have had any food."
Pattyson was subsequently offered a television opportunity with Lifetime, but knew doing it properly would entail airfare as well as hotel and rental car costs.
"I wanted the job, but I didn't see how I could make it work financially," she said. "My own parents don't even know this, but I went to Geno and asked to borrow some money. I think I cried when I asked him, because I was so embarrassed. He wrote me a check for $1,000.
"I worked really hard over the next few months to pay off some bills and take care of my rent. Then I wrote him a long letter to thank him and enclosed the money I owed him. I don't know why I bothered. He never cashed the check."